Sinema, Manchin And The 'Biden Agenda'
What Sinema And Manchin Can Say That Many Progressives Attacking Them Cannot Is That They Have Already Voted To Pass A Significant Piece of Biden's Agenda
When Kyrsten Sinema won her Senate race in Arizona in 2018 she became the first Democrat that state elected to the chamber in 30 years. Sinema also happens to be the first female Senator that Arizona has ever elected. Perhaps more remarkably, Democrat Joe Manchin from West Virginia represents a state that Donald Trump just won by 39 points in 2020. One may think that with a Senate split 50/50, Democrats would be especially grateful for their good fortune in winning Senate elections in these states. One would be mistaken.
A brief scroll through Twitter makes evident that Senators Sinema and Manchin are Public Enemies 1 and 2 when it comes to Progressive frustration over the reconciliation bill which Democrats are trying to pass. The Senators are seen as responsible for blocking the proposed $3.5 Trillion bill and their questioning of the price tag and elements in the proposed legislation are seen by many on the left as a betrayal of Democratic values.
The consternation with the Senators is real and impassioned. Threats of retribution are already being floated including a possible primary challenge for Senator Sinema. But have those on the left really thought through their attacks? Here are some facts that might give those carrying pitchforks for the Senators some pause:
· Had either Sinema or Manchin lost their last elections, Mitch McConnell would still be Senate Majority Leader.
· There then would have been no $1.9 Trillion Covid Relief Bill which both Manchin and Sinema voted for.
· In contrast to many of their critics who accuse the Senators of obstructing President Biden’s agenda, Senators Manchin and Sinema have already voted to pass a significant piece of it, the $1.2 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure bill.
While it can be said of any Democrat in the 50/50 Senate that if they had not won their last election Mitch McConnell would still be Senate Majority Leader, many of those seats are relatively safe ones and can’t be compared to the victories of Sinema and Manchin. President Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes out of over three million votes cast. Meanwhile from deep red West Virginia, the only alternative for Democrats to Joe Manchin would undoubtedly be a far right Republican.
The victories of Democratic Senators Warnock and Ossoff from Georgia moved the Senate to Democratic control in 2021 allowing for the passage of the $1.9 Trillion Covid relief bill. This is something that never would have happened with McConnell still running the chamber. Sinema and Manchin of course both voted to pass this bill.
Perhaps the greatest criticism lobbed by progressives at these Senators is that they are blocking President Biden’s agenda. But what Sinema and Manchin can say that many of the Progressives attacking them cannot is that they have already voted in favor of a significant piece of the President’s agenda. They have both already joined Bernie Sanders in voting for the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure bill which contains $100 Billion for climate change. This is a claim that none of the House Progressives who accuse Sinema and Manchin of blocking Biden’s agenda can make. Those now blocking passage of the infrastructure bill are in fact from the House Progressive Caucus who refuse to vote for it unless they get what they want on reconciliation.
None of this is to say that either Manchin or Sinema are beyond reproach. Sinema’s thumbs down curtsy as she helped vote down raising the Federal minimum wage to $15/hour was particularly irksome and unnecessary. But perhaps Democrats should think twice before attacking their own with more fury than they even attack Republicans. A Manchin replacement in West Virginia would certainly be a Republican while there is no guarantee that a primary challenger to Sinema would be able to hold that seat for Democrats in evenly split Arizona.
Democrats tend to see having control of the White House and Congress as a grand opportunity to pass their priorities. This happened in 2009 when President Obama took office leading to passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. They saw this as a great victory at the time, but with Republicans doing little but running against this so-called “government takeover of healthcare” Democrats suffered the largest congressional midterm losses in seventy years that November. The GOP continued to run against “Obamacare” while going on to capture the Senate and then the White House in 2016. Obviously there is no guarantee that passing legislation equates to retaining power as some on the left are now suggesting.
For now Democratic control of both the Senate and House hangs by a thread with midterm elections approaching in 2022. While this is not a suggestion for the party to therefore do nothing, perhaps at least there could be less viciousness toward those who may, with some evidence, believe that the quickest path back to power for Republicans in 2022 is for Democrats to try to do too much.